Sex toys top wrongly recycled item list

Vibrators, blow up dolls and an urn containing ashes are among items wrongly disposed of in recycling bins, according to one council.

Enfield Council in London published a list of the most unusual things it found in its bins and said it "beggared belief" what some locals had tried to recycle.

Dead pets, oil paintings, a fish tank and other sex toys also made the list, as did a plastic Christmas tree which was placed in an organic waste bin, The Mirror reports.

Councillor Chris Bond said: "It's no laughing matter because if recycling is contaminated it has to be sent to landfill and it costs us a fortune to dispose of it.

"If one incorrect item is placed in the recycling container and our staff don't spot it, the whole 10 tonne load of recycling could have to be sent to landfill, and that costs the council £1,000 each time it happens.

"Residents are working really hard to recycle more than ever before but I'd urge them to think long and hard about whether it's really suitable to put a blow up doll in their recycling."

The urn was placed on the owner's doorstep when refuse collectors spotted it in the recycling bin.